First, that is not the actual name of the creature we see in the Manifesto trailer. Except for ArenaNet, nobody knows exactly what the creature is. Leviathans actually exist already, and have since GW1. First, there are these sort of crab-like species that look like karka. There is also a creature named The Leviathan. People just started referring to the creature in the Manifesto trailer as the Leviathan because of how huge it appears to be.

The skeletons you see in Orr are not the bones of the Manifesto dragon, they are most likely Zhaitan's skeleton. I think that is how the map was supposed to look to people who had defeated Zhaitan in their Personal Story but I guess the powers that be decided to not go that route. Plus, the bones that you see on the map are huge compared to the comparatively tiny skeleton located in the Lost Shores.

However I haven't ever seen that skeleton before and it's really interesting. It looks just like the Manifesto's Leviathan (well, in dead form), and roughly the same size as well. I had been hoping taht the Lost Shores would actually include something about the Leviathan as it does seem like a similar area.

I actually have a fun fact that doesn't seem to be common knowledge for whatever reason. A while back, like a week before launch, some guy datamined all the NPC models in-game. He found Ogden, the Claw of Jormag, etc. He also found two character models for a red and blue Leviathan. If ANet got as far as to make 2 seperate models, I'm not sure why they weren't in the final game. It was probably because they were enormous but since they're underwater creatures they couldn't be static like the other world bosses.

I actually have a fun fact that doesn't seem to be common knowledge for whatever reason. A while back, like a week before launch, some guy datamined all the NPC models in-game. He found Ogden, the Claw of Jormag, etc. He also found two character models for a red and blue Leviathan. If ANet got as far as to make 2 seperate models, I'm not sure why they weren't in the final game. It was probably because they were enormous but since they're underwater creatures they couldn't be static like the other world bosses.

Could you please provide links to this? Also, define Leviathan. Manifesto Leviathan, crab-like Leviathan or GW1 creature called "The Leviathan?"

Could you please provide links to this? Also, define Leviathan. Manifesto Leviathan, crab-like Leviathan or GW1 creature called "The Leviathan?"

The thread was shut down like 2 days after it was opened, it must have violated some datamining thingy. I was referring the big scary shark thing in the manifesto video. I've never seen those images elsewhere either, trust me I spent like 2 days looking for it to save to my desktop, but my search was in vain. I can describe it to you though. It was basically that head we saw in the manifesto with a normal fish body covered in spikes. No spectacular tentacles or anything crazy. There was a red and a blue one.

My theory is it was supposed to be a dragon champion like Claw of Jormag or Tequatl, and was probably supposed to exist in Bloodtide Coast or something, but was cancelled because they couldn't make a proper underwater combat the same style as the other dragon champions. They might reintroduce it in a future update or something when they've made the finishing touch.

First, that is not the actual name of the creature we see in the Manifesto trailer. Except for ArenaNet, nobody knows exactly what the creature is.

And ArenaNet explicitly told us it's a leviathan. It isn't a fan-made name.

Not "The Leviathan" but a leviathan.

Two species, same name. Bad planning on ArenaNet's part (though it'll likely turn out the Factions Leviathan wurm-like creatures aren't literally called Leviathans, but were just leviathan creatures).

Mockingjay74, on 26 November 2012 - 03:02 AM, said:

The skeletons you see in Orr are not the bones of the Manifesto dragon

Manifesto dragon? That thing wasn't a dragon - also explicitly stated by ArenaNet.

Sword Hammer Axe, on 26 November 2012 - 11:32 AM, said:

My theory is it was supposed to be a dragon champion

We were explicitly told by ArenaNet shortly after the Manifesto trailer that the leviathans were not related to any Elder Dragon.

They're natural sea creatures.

Anyways, @OP:
That map is, as Mockingjay said, meant to be Zhaitan - we were told we'd be able to see his corpse in Arah explorable mode, though it seems that got scrapped.

Those skeletons, also found in Lion's Arch (one in Sharkmaw Caverns), Straits of Devastation (a whole tunnel filled with them, a Durmand Priory scholar saying they seem to be from the ED's last rise), one on an autopsy table in the Durmand Priory, and some in Malchor's Leap (including decorating the area of the PoI Dhuum's Last Stand, which was turned into a minion factory of sorts for risen). Folks on the official forums have brought up the possibility of those being bones of the Manifesto's leviathan.

Anyways, @OP:
That map is, as Mockingjay said, meant to be Zhaitan - we were told we'd be able to see his corpse in Arah explorable mode, though it seems that got scrapped.

hmm i should probably have uploaded the full size images instead, but the two skeletons you see on the Orrian maps are way too small to be Zhaitan considering the massive skeletal wing that can be seen on the 2nd picture.
On the first picture (full size) a big model of the Shatterer with an orange'ish glow can be seen, which i consider to be an early "skeleton" on how the battle was going to look.

Considering what the little Asura in SoD says about the remains. It does seem that Zhaitan and these creatures somehow are connected to "the nature of Zhaitan's power".

I do find it interesting though that we have yet to see a live sample of them. And for that matter the remains we have found as of yet are relatively small, compared to the Manifesto leviathan.

Oh, I thought you were referring to the large winged skeleton in the old pre-release Arah maps. Since I recognized the maps when small, I didn't bother enlarging them. Silly me.

Not sure what you're referring to with the Shatterer. The top of those two images have a pillar, one seen also twice in the Cursed Shore.

Anyways, the connection between Zhaitan and those skeletons may just be that they died during Zhaitan's last rise. And people made comparisons over on the official forums, and it seems that the Manifesto trailer was just made to look bigger than it actually was, as those skeletons were fairly big compared to the largest norn, so compared to a sylvari (what was in the trailer), the leviathan would be about the same size (though a bit bigger).